likes of Allen Ginsburg, Charles Olson, and Frank O’Hara. These artists, musicians, and writers were known as the “Beat Generation” (Baraka 1). During this time, Leroy had his works recognized by literary giant, Langston Hughes. He was also given an award for his off-Broadway play, Dutchman. On October 13, 1958, he married Hettie Cohen, a middle-class Jewish woman with whom he co-edited a magazine (Amiri 1). With his new reputation as a writer, he opened the Black Arts Repertory Theatre/School (BART/S) on April 30, 1965. The idea was to open a channel between the black artists and the masses. Even though the life of the BART/S was short, the idea spread across the nation (BARTS 1). When his theater failed to stay open, he began to distance himself from white society. In 1965, with the assassination of Malcolm X, this hatred was solidified. From this point, Baraka took Malcolm’s view of Black Nationalism. It was a view of equality, even through militant means (Young 3). The man who buried Malcolm X gave Leroy the Muslim name, Ameer Baraka, and later Ron Karenga, perhaps one of the strongest voices in the Black Nationalist Movement, changed Ameer to Amiri (Young 3). With his new name, and his new values, Baraka divorced Hettie and abandoned his children, leaving them for Newark. He then married Sylvia Robinson, who changed her name to Amina Baraka (Amiri 1). In July of 1967, Amiri was beaten by police officers and arrested for carrying a firearm, which he later said were planted. This was during one of the deadliest urban riots throughout this century. What led from this was a trial surrounded with controversy. The debate was not over the police brutality, nor was it over the all-white jury; the debate was over a poem of Baraka’s that was submitted into evidence. The poem, entitled “Black People” was about murder and theft of white people and their property, and the court claimed...
